US Robot Research Roadmap Released

We first reported on
the CRA/CCC's plan to produce a research roadmap for robot
technology back in February. The Computer Research Organization (CRA) is
a consortium of 200 North American Universities. They developed the
roadmap, funded by a
National Science Foundation grant, in cooperation with a wide range of
businesses. The CRA's
blog reports the roadmap is now complete. It starts on depressing
but unsurprising note.

Unfortunately, the United States lags behind other countries in
recognizing the importance of robotics technology. While the European
Union, Japan, Korea and the rest of the world have made significant R&D
investments in robotics technology, the U.S. investment, outside
unmanned systems for defense purposes, remains practically non-existent.
Unless this situation can be addressed in the near future, the United
States runs the risk of relinquishing its ability to globally compete in
these emerging markets putting the nation at risk of having to rely on
the rest of the world to provide a critical technology that our
population will become increasingly dependent upon.

The good news is that the report includes a detailed roadmap showing
where
the US is behind and what types of research are needed to get the
country's robotics businesses back on track. Specific roadmaps are
provided for automation, medical and healthcare robots, and service
robots. Here's a small sampling of the 15 year goals recommended in the
roadmap: